Much-needed rain puts damper on thirst for fun

Published 4:00 am, Monday, March 2, 2009

People stand in the rain and wind to look over the view of the city, Sunday March 1, 2009, in North Beach in San Francisco, Calif.

People stand in the rain and wind to look over the view of the city, Sunday March 1, 2009, in North Beach in San Francisco, Calif.

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

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Spiderman was joined by Robin (Kristin Dodson) and Batman (Hunter Wayne) as they waited for the light to change on their way to the WonderCon convention at Moscone Center.

Spiderman was joined by Robin (Kristin Dodson) and Batman (Hunter Wayne) as they waited for the light to change on their way to the WonderCon convention at Moscone Center.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

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Yu Fang Hsu (with umbrella) and his wife Dong Mei Gia watched an indoor hockey game from outside in the rain at the Yerba Buena Gardens. In downtown San Francisco Sunday, March 1, 2009, a steady rainfall didn't keep locals and tourists alike from getting out and enjoying the day. less

Yu Fang Hsu (with umbrella) and his wife Dong Mei Gia watched an indoor hockey game from outside in the rain at the Yerba Buena Gardens. In downtown San Francisco Sunday, March 1, 2009, a steady rainfall didn't ... more

On Powell Street near the cable car turnaround, two couples stayed out of the rain while a mural showing summer fashions from the Gap store loomed above them.

On Powell Street near the cable car turnaround, two couples stayed out of the rain while a mural showing summer fashions from the Gap store loomed above them.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

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Little Tierra Miller, visiting San Francisco with her mother from Redding, CA., carefully made her way down the steps at Union Square.

Little Tierra Miller, visiting San Francisco with her mother from Redding, CA., carefully made her way down the steps at Union Square.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Much-needed rain puts damper on thirst for fun

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Rain drops, those once-mysterious strangers, are becoming an ordinary feature of life in Northern California.

Two days after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought emergency, another storm blew in on Sunday, marking another small victory for the state's half-empty reservoirs after a wet February followed a bone-dry January.

The storm was expected to peak late Sunday, with up to three-quarters of an inch of rain falling in most areas, and then bring on-and-off showers through Friday.

Some minor flooding may cause problems today on the North Coast, said National Weather Service forecaster Brian Tentinger, while Tahoe ski resorts could be blessed with up to 3 feet of snow by Wednesday.

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But rainy days are still rainy days, drought or no drought. And rainy days are not easily celebrated.

In downtown San Francisco, Union Square was empty Sunday except for a few scavenging birds. Tourists like Salvador and Diana Del Angel, who came from Mexico City to celebrate their second wedding anniversary, were forced to sit on the lower deck of an open-topped double-decker bus as it rolled toward the Golden Gate Bridge.

And Kristen Dodson, shivering in a skimpy Robin costume, looked with envy at a friend wearing a full-length Batman suit, as they both headed to the big comic book convention at Moscone Center.

"Robin wasn't well prepared," said Dodson, who lives in Berkeley. "Robin didn't know her weather forecast."

At the nearby Metreon complex, Palmer Weiss, a San Francisco interior designer, said she knew the forecast well. But she expressed frustration that she was running out of indoor adventures to provide to her daughters, who are 5 and 2 and not keenly interested in the water level at Lake Oroville.

On Sunday morning, Weiss racked her brain for ideas. But she said the region's bowling alleys, skating rinks and Pump it Up franchises - offering "inflatable party zones" - were either too far from the city or packed with children's birthday parties.

"There's not enough to do in the rain," said Weiss, who with her daughters, her husband and another family ended up knocking down pins at the Yerba Buena Bowling Center in downtown San Francisco. "When it's rained for two months straight, you're out of options."

State water officials, who are planning to complete a monthly survey of the Sierra snowpack this morning, are hoping the weather keeps people inside bowling alleys for a long while.

While February was moist - downtown San Francisco saw more than 10 inches of rain, almost three times the average amount - experts say the drought is far from over.

The state's major reservoirs, including Lake Oroville, Shasta Lake and Folsom Lake, are at 46 percent of their capacity, Lynn said. While February was wet, January was one of the driest on record.

"We're in the middle of a big market downturn," Lynn said. "It's certainly not a cure, and we don't even know if this year will turn out to be normal (in terms of rainfall), much less make up for the past two years."

Sunday's weather prompted delays of 60 to 90 minutes at San Francisco International Airport, and the snowy mountain passes assured that chains would be required indefinitely on Interstate 80 and Highway 50 leading to Tahoe.

Over at the Powell Street cable car turnaround in San Francisco, some umbrella-toting tourists - including Jeff Hall and his wife, Tricia - said they weren't fazed by the rain as they prepared to visit Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square.

"If we wanted to not get rained on, we would have stayed in Phoenix," said Jeff Hall, a 32-year-old law student who had attended a mock trial in San Francisco.

Kate Lykins Brown was in town from Olympia, Wash., which generally sees more rain than Phoenix.

"I feel right at home," she said.

Brown said she had taken a short shower Sunday morning at her San Francisco hotel, "out of deference to our great friends in California."

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